adventures of an american housewife in the south of france

Holidays in Montpellier, Part 1: Thanksgiving

The holidays are here!  And we're just chugging along here in Montpellier.  It's been hard to get any "real" posts written but I wanted to just write a quick update and share some photos from our holidays so far. Michael's parents, Grandma Joy and Grandpa Todd, came over to France to celebrate Thanksgiving with us and meet their first granddaughter!  Their Grandparent resume is quite impressive, as they have a lot of recent experience caring for our nephew Dylan who is almost three.  Ramona had so much fun with them - playing, reading, singing, practicing her tummy time, and opening her many gifts.  And we took advantage of Grandma Joy's excellent scissor skills by having her trim Ramona's nails, which seem to grow by the second.

I've mentioned several times before that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and it was so nice to spend it with family this year.  Like last year, we bought 2 turkey breasts (it's very hard to find whole birds here before Christmas) and slow cooked them in the dutch oven with onions, carrots, celery, chicken broth and aromatics.  We made the Stuffing for the Rest of our Lives, Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Shallots, Pancetta and Pecans, a Corn Salad, Gravy and of course, Baguette.

I also made Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Cheesecake, which was quite delicious, but threw in a predictable twist - Speculoos crust!  I plan to make every cheesecake from here on out with speculoos crust.  It's just foolish not to.

We did let Grandma Joy and Grandpa Todd out of the house long enough to attend Les Hivernales, Montpellier's winter wine festival.  This year the booths are set up along the Esplanade Charles de Gaulle (as opposed to in the Comédie like last year) and it was very crowded!  But we had fun and Ramona got to attend her first wine tasting in France!

Michael's birthday also fell within his parents visit.  And it was a good thing, because Michael loves to have his mom's homemade Apple Pie on his birthday.  I've tried to re-create it for him over the years and I always fail miserably.  What can I say, I really suck at crust.  Even with the lack of Crisco in France, Joy managed to bake a delicious birthday pie for Michael.  We spent the day doing some birthday shopping, making his favorite Barbecue Pulled Pork Sandwiches, and watching Star Wars.  What else could a 35-year old Dad ask for?

I'm happy to report that I finished all our Christmas shopping yesterday and now we can just relax and enjoy our first Christmas season with our daughter.  My parents are arriving tomorrow to celebrate and we're looking forward to more time with family during this special holiday year. À bientôt!  

2 Responses to “Holidays in Montpellier, Part 1: Thanksgiving”

  1. jessica mordo says:

    so nice that all the grandparents are around for the holidays! noted “moo, baa, la la la” in one of the pics. that is avery’s fave book, hands down. such a fun one. squeeze ramona’s beautiful cheeks for me!

  2. Sabbio says:

    I love her turkey garment ;)And “Star Wars” for bday, yeah! ^^

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